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Radeon DPM Is Fantastic For Power Use, Thermal Performance

07-30-2013, 09:50 PM

Phoronix: Radeon DPM Is Fantastic For Power Use, Thermal Performance

One of the most exciting features of the upcoming Linux 3.11 kernel is the open-source Radeon driver's support for dynamic power management (DPM). We have already done preliminary benchmarks and found that Radeon DPM can boost the GPU's performance in cases where the boot clock speeds are slower than their rated frequencies (as in the case of AMD APUs and modern high-end GPUs). For other GPUs, Radeon DPM can lead to lower power consumption and better operating temperatures. Here's looking at the Linux Radeon DPM performance with the Linux 3.11 Git kernel.

1. Test idle power usage. Honestly it shouldn't change much, if at all, while you are running apps. It's at the desktop that you should really see changes.

2. The line graphs were pretty much unreadable. You had black, blue, and then 4 separate shades of red that all ran together.

It looks to me like the 6870 isn't quite getting into the highest power state under DPM. Not only were the benchmark scores consistently a bit lower, it was by far the biggest recipient of the power efficiency gains (meaning it used far less power).